Old Halifax Memorial Library could be home to Volta Labs

The Halifax Memorial Library on Spring Garden Road has been vacant since August 2014, but if all goes well, it could soon be the permanent home of Volta Labs.

“If our proposal is successful, we would move in after the Provincial government has made the appropriate repairs and refurbishment to it,” Volta Labs Spokesperson Sarah Linders said in an emailed statement.

RELATED: Future of former Halifax Memorial Library still up in the air

Volta Labs is a company that encourages entrepreneurship, giving guidance and education to people starting new ventures. They currently occupy two floors of the Maritime Centre.

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The Memorial Library was closed in August 2014, to prepare for the opening of the new Central Library.

The old library is on provincial lands that were loaned to the city while the library was in operation. Business Minister Mark Furey told reporters Thursday he hopes the library can be used for a company like Volta Labs.

Furey compared Volta’s potential use of the old library to the new Centre for Ocean Ventures & Entrepreneurship (COVE) that will open at the old Coast Guard base in Dartmouth.

“Both COVE and Volta extend the province significant opportunities those are the types of discussions where the government would be engaged,” Furey said.

Share this on X Click to share quote on X: "Both COVE and Volta extend the province significant opportunities those are the types of discussions where the government would be engaged," Furey said.

The proposal to move into the memorial library is still in the early stages, Linders said.

The provincial government is hoping to get financial help from the city of Halifax and the federal government to make the deal work.

“If we’re able to secure those partnerships and financial contributions to the initiative, it’s something that we would look at going forward.”

Halifax’s acting Chief Administrative Officer John Traves said the city is hoping to transfer responsibility for the memorial library back to the province by February.